Golf: Late Arnold Palmer went to great lengths to ensure every waiting fan got an autograph

Jack Nicklaus of the US and fellow former Masters champions Arnold Palmer of the US (left) and Gary Player of South Africa posing for a picture after the ceremonial start of the Masters golf tournament at the Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia on April 10, 2014.
PHOTO: REUTERS

Honorary starter Arnold Palmer attended a press conference during the ceremonial tee-off before first round play in the 2012 Masters Golf Tournament at the Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, US, on April 5, 2012. PHOTO: REUTERS

Honorary starter Arnold Palmer gestures after hitting a drive to begin the 2007 Masters golf tournament on the first tee at the Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, US, on April 5, 2007. PHOTO: REUTERS

Former champion Arnold Palmer hits from a sand trap during the annual Masters Par 3 golf tournament in Augusta, US, on April 9, 2008. PHOTO: REUTERS

Arnold Palmer (front) and his wife Kathleen Gawthrop drive their golf cart on the eighth hole during the first round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard at Bay Hill Club and Lodge, on March 17, 2016. PHOTO: REUTERS

Arnold Palmer waiting to putt on the fifth hole during the Par 3 Contest at the 2014 Masters Tournament in Augusta, Georgia, US, on April 9, 2016. PHOTO: EPA

(REUTERS) - Arnold Palmer, one of golf's greatest players whose immense popularity drew a legion of fans known as "Arnie's Army" and helped propel the game just as television was coming of age, died on Sunday at age 87, the United States Golf Association (USGA) and golf media reported.

"We are deeply saddened by the death of Arnold Palmer, golf's greatest ambassador, at age 87," the USGA said on Twitter.

Palmer, who posted 62 victories on the PGA Tour starting in 1955, died in Pittsburgh, near his hometown of Latrobe, Pennsylvania, golf media reported.

A winner of seven major championships, including four Masters, the American had no peers as a fan favourite and always went to great lengths to ensure that every person waiting in line ended up with a cherished autograph, an approach that even today's generation of players tries to live up to.

Palmer developed his following at tournaments and on television with an affable demeanour, telegenic looks and modest background as the son of a greenskeeper.

He ranks fifth on the PGA's list of tournament victories. His biggest win may have come in 1960, when he won the US Open after being down seven shots in the final round in the greatest comeback in that tournament's history. He beat Jack Nicklaus, a then 20-year-old amateur, by two shots, prefacing a rivalry between the two that lasted throughout the 1960s.

The Straits Times

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